Von has and always will represent a divergent genre in the black metal scene.
The band Von has managed a feat nobody could expect, being avant-garde in a genre they themselves created back in 1991 with the release of their debut album Satanic Blood.
Unlike most black metal acts who try to portrait archaic and stereotypical elements of “darkness”, Von offers instead an unabashed atmospheric vileness to anyone willing to listen.
Music to the hear rather than imagery to the ego is what separates Von from the rest of the black metal scene.
And it’s also the case with this album Dark Gods: Seven Billion Slaves.
Being the first opus of the Dark Gods trilogy, Seven Billion Slaves rose to fame quite rapidly considering the extreme and underground nature of the music.
Like any Von masterpiece, the stylistic approach to music relies on heavy distortion and drowning atmospheric riffs to accompany the listener on a journey to darkness and despair.
Unlike the debut album Satanic Blood however, this album portrays a raw sound of agony rather than the barbaric and ritualistic pounding of notorious tracks such a s “Devil Pig” or “Watain”.
Ultimately, Seven Billion Slaves is the rebirth of a genre decrepit by conformism and commercial “try-hardism”.
While the music might differ greatly from the old school days of Satanic Blood, the atmosphere and message remain the same.
Best Black Metal 